Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Holdings Lifted by Cim Investment Management Inc.

Cim Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,543 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.1% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,152 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,737 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $22,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,133 shares during the period. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $168.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $111.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.84, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.18 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.